


Our Tragedy

by teamrebecchi



Category: Neighbours (TV), neighfics - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Child Death, Childhood Trauma, Digging up the past, Emotional Trauma, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Flashbacks, Gaslighting, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Intertwining of Past and Present Events, Multi, Other, Past Relationship(s), Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-06-27 08:00:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19786639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamrebecchi/pseuds/teamrebecchi
Summary: Wanting more information on Andrea, Toadie and Sonya enlist a Private Investigator to dig into her background but the search turns up something neither of them expected and they are both forced to confront and process the events of the past as they meet new people, stumble upon a town with a big secret and make a discovery that could change both their lives and their marriage forever.*this is MY take on the dee story*





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> * this story is set two months after "bandaids for bullet wounds"  
> * i will be updating the additional tags as the story progresses - as the majority of the tags are in fact spoilers.  
> * i will also be including any trigger warnings in the tags AND the notes at the beginning of the chapter so please be sure to read them.  
> * this is basically just my version of the whole dee/andrea story. some things might seem similar to the show and canon but the majority of it will be vastly different. so, please keep that in mind.  
> * lastly... please, please trust me in regards to where this story is going.

******45 Days Earlier**

"Bloody Parent Trap!" 

_Toadie muttered through clenched teeth as he lay in bed, tossing and turning, pushing the doona covers off him and then flinging them back on moments later before he gave up and lay on his back, punching the doona and rested his arms on top of it. It'd been three days since he last slept._ _He wasn't even able to sleep for a couple of minutes because his mind was in constant overdrive to the point where all he could do was lay there and stare out the open window, watching the curtains move as the light from the moon shone on his face._ _Biting his lip, he took a deep breath and rolled over, deciding it was time to stop putting this off and edging closer to Sonya._

"Sonya? Sonya..." 

_Toadie whispered as he softly tapped her on the arm repeatedly with his finger as Sonya's eyes opened and she gently shook her head and closed them again as Toadie lent forward, trying to see her face as he spoke louder._

"Sonya... are you awake?"

 _Sonya took a deep breath as her eyes remained closed._ "No." 

"I need to talk to you about something." 

_Toadie sat up, pushing himself up onto the pillow and leaning against the bedhead as he closed his eyes. Sonya's words were going over and over in his mind. Had she even realised what she'd said? The significance of it? Probably not. She probably didn't even know he was listening to her. On their movie nights, he had a tendency to zone out, especially if it was a movie he wasn't keen on or if he had work to do. Last Thursday night was no different. He had so much work to get done and wasn't in the mood to be watching movies, especially not The Parent Trap. The version with Lindsey Lohan. So Sonya sat on the couch, by herself eating popcorn and snuggled up under a blanket, giving him a live commentary on what was happening in the movie._

"How do they not realise they're related? They have the same face! I mean, what are the chances of two unrelated people looking exactly the same?"

_That was it._

_That was all she said and it stuck with him. He couldn't let it go because it was like a light bulb had gone off and suddenly, it made him think of Andrea and Dee. How two women could look identical and he knew there were people in the world who had a doppelganger. Someone who looked exactly like them but it was more than that. It felt like there had to be more to it than that._

_Could Andrea and Dee be related?_

_Could they be sisters?_

_Could they be the same person?_

_Was that why he believed it was Dee or had he just wanted to believe that she was alive?_

_They were questions he kept asking himself over and over and over again and he wanted an answer to it. He already knew it wasn't going to help him. It wasn't going to give him the answers he'd needed for 15 years about whether Dee was alive or dead but it was in his mind now. He couldn't let this go, no matter how much he wanted to and he felt that this could give him something. Maybe not closure but answers of a difficult kind._

_As Toadie sat on his pillow, he looked out the window sadly as Sonya turned to look at him, leaning in as she noticed something was wrong and quickly jumped up onto her knees and gently held his hands, catching his attention as her eyes softened,_

"Jarrod... What is it? What's wrong?" 

_Toadie took a deep breath._ "I need to talk to you about something... important."

"Okay." _Sonya whispered as her eyes widened in concern and her lips started to tremble as Toadie looked at her, noticing her distress._

"Oh, no. It's... It's okay. It's okay, Sonya." _Toadie nodded reassuringly as he held onto her hand._ "Do you... do you think that Andrea and Dee... that they might be related?"

 _Sonya leaned back, falling onto her feet as she shook her head in surprise._ "Sorry. What?" 

"It's just that... what you said the other night, it got me..."

"What I said the other night?" _Sonya looked down, talking to herself before leaning forward and asking Toadie, confused._ "What did I say?" 

"About the twins in Parent Trap and... you know, having the same face."

"Right." _Sonya nodded, wiping her forehead and sighing before she jumped up, holding her chest._ "I'm sorry, Jarrod. I didn't mean to put that into your head."

"No. No, that's... it's not your fault. Really." _Toadie said reassuringly as he gently stroked the left side of Sonya's face._ "It just got me thinking, that's all."

"About Dee?"

"Yeah." _Toadie whispered under his breath as his voice started to break up._ "I hadn't even... it didn't even cross my mind at the time, you know." _He smiled, in an attempt to hide his sadness._ "My life - our lives just completed imploded and... it didn't even occur to me that... I mean, why would some random woman look identical to Dee?" 

"You want answers?" 

"I want answers. I want... I want to do an investigation into Andrea. Her background and... and maybe Dee too. And I want us to do this together."

 _Sonya nodded._ "I'll be with you... in this. 100% But... I mean, are you sure about this Jarrod? After what happened... I just don't want you to..." _Sonya's voice started to break up and she turned to the side as a single tear fell down her right cheek._

"I'm sure and we'll be alright. We will be in this... all of it, together. It's okay, Sonya. I'm okay." _Toadie said softly as he nodded at Sonya and she nodded at him._ "I am. I promise. I am in a much better place now... we both are. We're both in a better head space and a better place in our lives to handle - to deal with this. And if... if one of us falls or struggles, the other one will pick them up." _Sonya smiled._ "It will be okay and whatever happens.. we will deal with it..." _Toadie held Sonya's hand and smiled_. "Together."

"Together." 

_Sonya leaned forward, smiling as she stroked the side of Toadie's face as she kissed his cheek and snuggled into his neck as she hugged him and she held her._


	2. The Woman In Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * trigger warnings: references abuse. ableism. death. child death. drowning. 
> 
> * since sonya always refers to toadie as "jarrod", i made the decision that in her parts, when she is thinking about him - it is jarrod so it goes back and forth in some paragraphs between toadie & jarrod, depending on the pov. 
> 
> * this fic contains at least 7 original characters, all of who will be explored further as the story goes on as they are all very important to the story and the overall mystery of "what happened to dee bliss?"
> 
> disclaimer: i have done a lot of reseach for this fic, like a LOT but i have still struggled to find certain facts both in the neighbours universe and real life so where that is the case, i have elected to write in my own details/facts.

_“The eyes are the mirror of the soul and reflect everything that seems to be hidden; and like a mirror, they also reflect the person looking into them.”_

**_Paulo Coelho_ **

**10am, 2nd March 1979: Latrobe Cemetery, Tasmania.**

_Zoe kneeled on the cold, wet ground of the cemetery. She'd been there, in that same spot for hours. Through the early morning sun, heavy rain and now, the cold wind. Which picked up drastically over the last 20 minutes, cutting through her and leaving her feeling like the cold had seeped into her bones. Her hands were shaking as she curled them into a ball, pulling the sleeves of her damp white turtleneck wool jumper over her hands and burying her face in it as a tear fell from her eye._

_She’d cried so much over the last month that her eyes were now completely bloodshot and her face, puffy with red blotches, highlighting her pale complexion._

_It had taken close to a month to get her daughter back._

_Her body back._

_To have a funeral._

_She'd told them. Over and over and over again._

_It’d been a really warm day. Warm for her, at least and whenever the weather was like, it made her feel unwell so she’d gone to bed early, around 5:20pm. Before she did, she kissed her daughter goodnight and opened all the windows, hoping that once the sun went down and the breeze set in, it would cool down the house. She’d been asleep for hours. Out like a light until she was woken suddenly at 2:17am when she heard footsteps outside her door followed by a window being slammed shut. She’d gotten up and checked on her daughter briefly, making sure she was still there before walking out of her room and looking around the house. There was no sign of anyone having been there so she went back and checked on her daughter. Moving around the cot to see her more clearly, that was when she saw it. She was blue and motionless. Her eyes were closed, her mouth open and she was cold to the touch._

_But it made no difference to them - the police. They didn’t care. They refused to listen to her. Refused to believe her little angel had died in her sleep. Instead, they thought she was responsible. That she killed her. It was like Andrew all over again. People; the public and the police questioning her. Doubting her reliability, that she was trustworthy and safe to be around. Insinuating she was a threat, a danger to children - to her children and using their deaths as a reason to justify why people like her shouldn't have children._

_But despite their opinion of her and their belief that she killed her, that she killed both of them; they couldn’t prove she’d done anything wrong and after a month’s wait she was finally able to bury her little girl._

_To put her to rest and now, here she was, right in front of her._

_Andrea Mallory_  
_11 August 1978 - 4 February 1979_ _  
_ My Little Angel 

_It was a small gravestone but one covered in teddy bears. Purple and blue ones with white bow ties that she’d tied around their ears. They were identical to the ones she’d bought for Andy, the ones that were in her room. She'd placed those ones in her coffin with her and bought new ones to sit on her grave. Ones that could stay with her. Keep her company._

_She also wanted anyone passing to see, to know that her little angel was loved. That she loved her. Not that it would make much difference. Not to those people, the ones who stood around, looking at her and pointing. She heard the lies people spread about her. The horrible names they called her._

_Child killer._

_Monster._

_Deranged._

_Unhinged._

_And much, much worse._

_She heard it all her life. People could be so cruel, especially when someone was different. When they didn't fit into their idea of "normal". They laughed at her. Treated her like she was mad - deranged. It was endless. Didn’t matter how hard she’d tried to block them out. Ignore them and grow a thicker skin, as her parents suggested, it made no difference. Especially when she had people constantly spewing their disgusting comments at her. Attacking her. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t true. Not anymore. Not when they were so public and proud of their treatment of her. Of people like her._

_She tried to avoid them. Avoid looking at them and giving them the attention they probably wanted but it was hard to resist. She wanted to know who they were. Who was there. Watching her and spreading lies about her this time but she couldn’t tell them apart until she saw a familiar one. One dressed all in black who broke away from the group in a huff and started walking towards her._

_It was Hester Morrigan._

_Hester was white and in her 20s. She had shoulder length, wavy strawberry blonde hair and a deep scar, under her left eye that reached down and all the way across her mouth. She walked with a limp in her right leg and needed the assistance of a cane and always, no matter the weather wore a long black glove on her left hand that reached up, past her elbow._

_It was something that caused a lot of people to speculate. Question what happened to her. No one knew or had the full story but it was something bad, they all knew that and it had something to do with a friend or her sister when she was a child and armed with that, everyone had a different story to tell. Fanny Carter said her hand was scarred, as though she’d been in a fire or someone had thrown boiling liquid on her while Hattie Lewis claimed her arm was covered in cuts, like stab wounds, similar to the scar on her face._

_Whatever it was, she didn’t want to know. Not until Hester decided to open up and tell her what happened and because Hester had been one of the few people to respect her privacy, not ask personal questions or try to stick her nose into her business, she could return the favour._

"Zoe, darling. Oh, I'm so sorry." 

_Hester called out as she gradually approached Zoe, gently rubbing the right side of her arm as she gave her a sympathetic half smile and then walked over to Andrea's grave, kneeling and placing an assortment of white and yellow flowers at the bottom of the grave before standing up and walking over to Zoe, placing her hand around her head and pulling her in for a hug, holding her gently._

"Oh, Hessy..." _Zoe whispered, pulling away from her as she turned, looking at the group and using the back of her hands to rub the tears away from her eyes and her voice broke up._ "Who was there? What are they saying about me, Hes? That I… That I killed her? Killed both of them? That Andy's dead because of me?" 

"It doesn't matter what they're saying, Zoe." _Hester cupped her hands around Zoe's face, wiping a tear from Zoe's face with her thumb_. "We both know that it's not true so don't listen to them, okay?" 

**4:30pm, 17th September 2018: Number 30 Ramsay Street, Erinsborough.**

19 minutes and 46 seconds. 

That's how long it'd been since the phone rang.

Since John called. 

_"I've found something. It's about Andrea..."_ he said, taking a long pause. _"..and Dee too."_

Those six little words changed everything. 

For both of them. 

Sonya needed time to herself so she ran into the bedroom, locking the door behind her. He wanted to go after her. Check on her and see if she was okay but he couldn’t manage it. Not yet anyway so instead, he stood in the kitchen, arms crossed and staring out the window as the sky opened and it started to rain. 

His eyes were filled with fear and anguish. 

He was scared. 

Scared that John might actually find something about Andrea or Dee. Scared of what it would do to his life. To Sonya’s life and their marriage. He’d already lost everything because of this, because of Dee and Andrea and had to find a way to fight his way back. To Sonya and Nell, Callum, his family and friends and most of all, himself. He’d only just managed to pull himself back from the brink and now, was risking everything all over again. Putting everything on the line for a chance at an answer that could only send him back to the deep. Back to the person he’d fought like hell not be anymore. Someone he needed to remove from his life, eradicate in order to survive until the next day. 

Now, he was already slipping back into old and destructive habits. Hiding things, especially from Sonya and pretending to be something he’s not - pretending to be okay when he wasn’t. Even going to far as to act like he was eager for news when in reality, he jumped every time the phone rang. Was in a constant state of panic and couldn’t even work anymore. He’d just sit in his office, the phone off the hook and his mobile turned off and trying to get his work done. Wondering whether John was trying to contact him, the thoughts relentlessly invading his mind. Conjuring up thoughts that made him feel like he could move forward with his life if he'd heard from him, if he finally had the answers he needed. Whatever they were. 

The problem was he didn't know what he needed. Not anymore. For years, he just wanted to know if Dee was alive. If she was dead. He wanted a body to bury. To have her back in his life. Closure. Now, looking back on it now, he realised it made no difference. Whatever the outcome, it wasn't going to alleviate his guilt. He was still responsible for what happened that day. He was driving. He was the one who crashed the car and finally having closure wasn't going to change that. Dee being alive or dead wasn't going to give him his life back. 

It wasn't going to undo the last 15 years. 

Wasn’t going to change everything he'd been through. 

It was just going to set him back. 

Undo all his hard work. 

Something that was already happening but this time, it was different - worse in a way and as he stood there, watching the rain, it brought everything back and he could feel the facade he built up, that he’d worked to maintain starting to fade away.

-*-

Sonya sat in the middle of the bed, her legs crossed and leaning forward, playing with the tips of her fingers and taking a deep breath, a single tear falling down her right cheek as she tried to prepare herself for what was about to happen. She knew what was coming and she knew, whatever news John had, it wasn’t going to end well. 

For Jarrod or herself. 

Especially since he’d started closing himself off again. Keeping things from her and pretending to be fine when he wasn’t. He wouldn’t let her in and she knew why. He didn’t want her to worry. He didn’t want to unload his problems, his concerns and struggles onto her in case it hurt her or was too much for her to deal with. He didn’t want to scare her or have her thinking the worst. No matter what she did or how hard she tried to convince him that she was fine, he didn’t believe her. Not that she was surprised. 

It had taken him months to open up and tell her what really happened that night and where he's disappeared too for weeks afterwards and in return, she fell to pieces. Not that he knew that at the time. She’d done everything she could to hide how she felt. Hoping it would just take some time to understand and process everything and she would be fine but that moment never came. Instead, she just kept falling apart, lashing out and it wasn’t until it got to be too much that she finally told him the truth about how much she’d been struggling. 

And the look on his face, his reaction said it all.

That he’d made a mistake. 

She wasn’t ready. 

He should have waited. 

But having spoken to both Eddie and Leo, she realised that none of that mattered because she never would have been ready to hear that news. There was no good time. No way to be prepared. She’d never been exposed to something like this before. Never had to face it and when she was confronted with it, it nearly broke her. 

Made her feel powerless. 

Something she hadn’t felt for a very long time. 

Because of that, it was as though Jarrod didn’t want to tell her anything anymore. Didn’t want to take the risk that it might be too much for her to handle. To cope with and wanted to avoid burdening her with his problems and it scared her. That he could slip back into his old ways so quickly and so easily. The toll his silence could be taking on him and that he could have another breakdown because of it. That this time, she could actually lose him and it frightened her. 

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands, licking her lips and taking a deep breath as she forced herself to smile and regain her composure before getting up and walking out of the room, closing the door behind her and heading into the kitchen. 

_"Jarrod..."_

_"I can't do this, Sonya."_

Toadie turned, suddenly and panicked. He was breathing heavily and rapidly as his eyes filled with tears and his lips quivered while his whole body shook, nonstop and he looked at Sonya, who had frozen where she stood, watching him intently with fear in her eyes. 

_"I... I... I can't... I can't do this. Sonya, I don't... I don't think I want to know. What... what if it's bad? What if... What if it happens again? What if I end up where I was before? What if..."_

Toadie looked away as he started crying, placing both hands over his face as he let out a faint scream. His voice had broken up to the point where he could no longer even speak anymore. Sonya took a step forward, stunned and concerned, trying to think of something to say that could help him but not knowing where to start, she remained speechless. 

They both stood there when there was a repeated knock at the door. Distressing Toadie as he grabbed hold of his chest with his right hand and started hyperventilating, holding onto the bench top with his left to stop himself from tumbling over but barely able to breath, he ran. Rushing past Sonya and towards the couch where he sat down, leaning forward and trying to calm himself down. 

_"I'll be right back, Jarrod. I’ll..."_

Sonya said as she smiled softly, realising she couldn’t help him while the knocking continued to cause him distress and decided to deal with that matter first. She then turned and walked towards the front door, opening it as she stepped outside and then closed it immediately behind her. 

_"Hi."_ Sonya whispered as she looked up at John, her left hand clutched around the door knob.

 _"Hi. Is everything okay?"_ John questioned, concerned.

Sonya shook her head as she wiped a tear away from her eye. " _Could you come back later. Jarrod is... he's not in a great place right now."_

 _"Sure. Look, I'll wait in the car and…”_ John took a step back and looked over, pointing at his car which was parked in front of the house. _“why don't you come out and get me or let me know what's going on."_

_"Thank you."_

Sonya nodded and walked back into the house and into the lounge room. Toadie was sitting on the couch, holding his chest with his shaking hand and working on getting his breathing back under control. Sonya took a deep deep to calm herself down and then walked over to him, kneeling in front of him as she leant forward and gently grabbed hold of both of his hands, bringing them to her mouth as she looked up at him.

 _"Jarrod, I want you to listen to me. Listen to me, okay?"_ Sonya spoke calmly, almost in a whisper as Toadie looked at her, tears in his eyes. _“It's going to be okay. I know... I know you're scared. I'm scared too, Jarrod. I'm scared too. We don't know what’s going to happen or what we're going to hear but whatever it is, I'm going to be right here with you."_ Sonya kissed Toadie's hand. " _I'm not going anywhere. No matter what happens. We are going to face this together.”_ Sonya’s voice broke up. _“We're going to deal with this together. We are doing this together. Remember?"_

Toadie whispered. _"Together."_

_"Together and... look, we can... we can tell him that we've changed our minds. That we're not ready for this yet. If that's what you want."_

_"I love you."_ Toadie whispered under his breath as he faintly smiled at her. 

_"I love you too, my darling. I love you."_ Sonya reached up and kissed him on the lips before leaning back. _"What do you want me to do? Do you want me to let him in or... do you want me to tell him to go away, come back at a later time."_

Toadie looked down, breaking free from Sonya's grip and rubbing his eyes. _"I can't... I can't do this... I don't think I can do this, Sonya."_

_"Okay. That's okay."_

_"But, I... I can't wait any longer either. It's... it's too much. I can't do it."_ Toadie shook his head, distressed and in tears. 

_"Okay."_

Sonya whispered, gently caressing Toadie's face as she leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead, a single tear falling down his left cheek as he closed his eyes and she stood up, taking a few small steps backwards before turning around and walking over to the front door. Grabbing hold of the doorknob, closing her eyes and letting out a deep breath before opening the door and walking outside. 

**11:45pm, 31st July 1979: Mersey Community Hospital, Tasmania.**

_Zoe hid._

_Moving from one corner to the next._

_Only allowing a small portion of her face to be seen before scurrying out of sight, her back pressed against the wall, motionless. Keeping herself hidden and peering to the side slightly, to check that the coast was clear before running to the next corner. She looked up and down the corridor, listening to and watching the multiple people moving from one area to another._

_There was an elderly Black man, Arnold. They'd gotten to talking one evening when they were both out wandering the corridors, she’d been trying to find a way out of the hospital and he was looking for someone to talk to. There was something about him. Something that allowed her to open up. To be herself. She'd told him about Andrea and Andrew. The way she'd been treated, abused and how she ended up there. It was a hard thing for her to do, especially with a stranger but he didn't judge her or assume she was responsible, he just leaned forward, held her hand and smiled at her. He was kind and understanding and nice to her. It was refreshing and a beautiful thing to be exposed to. Arnold in turn, opened up about how he’d lost his own daughter recently and that he understood the pain she was in and was there for. Encouraging her to talk to him if and when she needed to._

_That night however, there was something different about him. He was crying. Distressed. He was being led along the corridors by a young Black woman, his granddaughter Celesta. She was crying as well and it was obvious something bad had happened when they suddenly stopped and Celesta placed her hand over her mouth and Arnold leaned in and hugged her._

_There were two nurses. Annie, who was in her mid 20s and had olive skin and black hair. She'd only been in Australia a few years, coming here as a refugee from Europe and spoke with a thick accent. She was a very private person, didn't want anyone to know where she was from or anything about her or her life before Australia, except for Mary. The other nurse with her. Mary was Aboriginal and in her late 30s and had a very friendly and warm personality. The two of them were giggling. They did that a lot when they were together. Annie was biting her right thumb playfully and swaying from side to side while Mary fidgeted with her dress while looking to see if the coast was clear before reaching out and holding Annie's hand._

_Then there was the little boy, sitting on his own on one of the chairs. She'd never seen him before but there was a strange sense of familiarity about him. He was white and about 6 or 7 years old with light blonde hair. Hair that was messy and covered in dirt. He was soaking wet, the water from his shorts and broken green T-shirt dripping onto the ground and he was covered in cuts and bruises. His left hand and wrist were bandaged and his right was missing the last three fingers. Given the state of him, he looked like he'd either been playing in the mud or had fallen off a cliff._

_He was watching everyone in the corridor with the same level of interest as she did before standing up, smiling at her and hobbling over to the corner. Looking in both directions before turning back to look at her and waving her into the room. Mouthing at her to hurry._

_Zoe nodded at him and smiled, albeit concerned._

_Entering the nursery._

_She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her hands were sweating and her fingers tingled as she wiped them on the side of her white hospital gown. Her bare feet slowly walking across the cold floor as she looked at the five babies, all girls until she spotted her. The one she was looking for. She looked like she'd been born only minutes before. Her eyes were closed and she was covered in wrinkles. Her mother used to say that newborn babies looked like skinned rabbits, which she did but she looked liked an adorable little skinned rabbit. She looked down at the band on her wrist to see if she had a name yet and she did. Athena Mikaelson._

“What a beautiful name.” 

_Zoe said to herself as smiled and leaned down, stroking her little hand._

_BANG!_

_She jumped. Letting go of Athena's hand and grabbing hold of her chest as she gasped and turned around. Eyes widened and startled by the sound of something hitting the glass with force. It was the little boy. He was hitting his right palm against the window repeatedly, trying to get her attention and waking up the babies who started crying and screaming in the process. She stood there, motionless. Afraid of what was going on when he pointed behind him and screamed._

"FIRE! THERE'S A FIRE!" 

_She staggered back, barely breathing as though in a state of shock as the boy, slowly engulfed in smoke slid his hand across the glass and fell to the ground. She turned, staring at the babies momentarily before immediately taking action. She moved them. One by one, as far away from the door as she could before reaching for a towel and turning on the water, leaving the towel in the sink as she ran out of the nursery and towards the boy. She dragged him by his shoulders along the ground and into the nursery, away from the smoke filled room before running to the sink and turning off the tap, picking up the wet towel and placing it on the ground in the doorway as she stood up and ran towards the fire alarm and pulled it._

_The sound was ear piercing. She gripped her hands as tightly over her ears as she could, her eyes filling with tears and she started crying and shaking her head. She ran back into the nursery and picked up one of the baby girls. Holding her as tightly as she could with her right hand while holding her left hand over her ear and pressing her right ear against her shoulder in a bid to drown out the noise as she walked out of the nursery, closing the door behind her to ensure no smoke could get in._

_Then she ran._

_Down the corridor._

_Out of the hospital and into the night._

**2am, 11th August 1979: Gog Range Regional Reserve, Tasmania.**

_Run!_

_Run!_

_Run!_

_She screamed at herself. Over and over again. Pushing herself as hard as she could. Forcing herself to ignore the growing pains spreading throughout her body as her legs and feet felt as though they were going to collapse under her._

_She had no idea how long she'd been awake or how long she'd been running. The only thing she knew was she couldn't stop. Not for a single second. Especially while they were still out there. Chasing her. Not for herself and not for the baby. It wasn't safe. She had to keep going until she either made it back to the hospital or she found someone who could help her._

_So she ran._

_And she kept running._

_As fast as she could. Across dirt and grass. Leaves and twigs. Through the fog and passing tree after tree after tree. Some wet and cold, from the moisture in the air while others were bone dry. Coarse and rough. Cutting up the bottom of her bare feet as she ran over the broken twigs on the ground and over to one of the trees, grabbing hold of it as she looked around, behind her and between the trees to see if anyone was coming._

_As she moved around the tree, she slid the palm of her hand down the side of the tree, the bark cutting up her hand and with no one to be seen, she stopped and leaned against it, taking the time to breathe as she closed her eyes and placed her hand around the top of the white woollen baby blanket. Attempting to keep the baby calm and bouncing up and down as her bloodied hand tapped the back of the blanket._

"It's o-o-o-okay, baby. Athena. Ath..." _Zoe's teeth were chattering and she stuttered, the cold and exhaustion made it difficult for her to get the words out._ "It's... It's... It's okay. It's all o-kay. We're getting out of here. I'm... I'm getting you back to your mummy and your daddy. I promise, baby. I promise." 

_She held onto the baby with both hands crossed over each other, her wrists brushing against the blanket and her hands closed into a fist as she pulled her close, clutching her against her chest. Her motionless allowed a stabbing pain to spread from her legs to her back. Her shoulders and her neck and arms as she clenched her teeth and tried to push the pain out of her mind and focus on something else when she became aware of the cold. She hadn’t noticed it while she’d been running but now that she was standing still, it was seeping through, into her bones and her skin was ice cold and getting colder by the minute. Her bare skin exposed to the chill in the air through the white sleeveless dress she was wearing._

_Unable to shake the pain and the cold and with nothing to warm her, she continued running. But uncertain of where she was, having gotten turned around while resting against the tree, she no longer knew which direction the hospital was in and so took a chance - running east, through the trees and across the rough ground, hoping that she was headed in the right decision._

_Before she fell. Tripping over a branch and onto the ground as the baby went flying forward, rolling multiple times along the dirt. Her dress rode up and her knees slid along the ground, holding out her hands in an attempt to break her fall and cutting up her palms. She lay there - clenching her teeth and silently screaming before pushing herself up and grabbing a hold of the baby. Running off, constantly looking behind her as she stumbled into the river._

_She stood there, motionless. Her feet and ankles completely covered by water and her eyelids becoming heavier by the minute, making it difficult to keep them open as her breathing slowed and she fell forward._

_Face first._

_Into the river._

_Her eyes widened as she lay there._

_Motionless._

_The baby blanket opening next to her and floating away._

**5pm, 17th September 2018: Number 30 Ramsay Street, Erinsborough.**

_Jarrod?_

_Jarrod?_

_Are you okay, my darling?_

_Jarrod?_

Sonya’s voice slowly brought him back to reality. To what was happening in front of him as he turned to look at her. His eyes widened and slowly blinking and his lips quivering. _“Sorry. I... I..."_ He whispered at Sonya before looking up at John, clearing his throat and reiterating what he'd told him. 

_"Twins? Dee is... Andrea is Dee's sister? Andrea is Dee's sister."_

_"Yeah.”_ John said softly. _“Um... in 1979, Magda Bliss gave birth to twin girls. Six hours later, one of the girls was... taken. Stolen from the hospital. They... had a suspect. A young woman, Zoe Mallory. She'd been sectioned a few weeks earlier and at the time, was a suspect in the death of her own daughter…”_ John licked his lips, breaking eye contact with Toadie. _“Andrea.”_

 _"Andrea?"_ Toadie whispered under his breath, chuckling sadly as he shook his head.

 _"..and before that, she had a son, Andrew. He died around six months as well. Um…”_ John took a deep breath as he looked over at Sonya. “ _She was Schizophrenic and had some mental health issues and... well, you can imagine, in the 70s it wouldn't have..."_ John cleared his throat. _"..anyway, they looked everywhere but couldn't find either of them. They just disappeared. A lot of people suspected she and baby both died."_

 _"Well, they obviously survived because she was here... last year."_ Toadie's voice broke up, struggling to keep it together. _"Pretending to be..."_

Toadie pressed his hand against his mouth before looking away, crying as Sonya watched him, edging closer to him, her right arm stretched around his back and her left holding onto his hand before she turned to look at John. _"Did you find anything else?"_

John looked at Toadie and then back at Sonya, nodding as he recognised his distress. _"I have, yes but... I might just leave it here. You can look through it at your own pace when you're ready and... I'll look into this more, see if I can find anything else and then I'll get back to you."_

_"Thanks, John."_

Sonya called out as John turned, smiling at her and placing multiple documents that he’d been holding onto the table before he walked towards the front door and let himself out, while Toadie and Sonya remained seated on the couch. 

_"Are you okay?"_ Sonya asked softly. 

_"I…”_ Toadie looked up at her, shaking his head, his lips quivering as he whispered under his breath and his voice broke up. “ _I don’t know. I, um… I just need some... I need some air.”_

Toadie jumped up and ran; in a hurry towards the backdoor and outside, into the rain as he closed his eyes and grabbed a hold of his chest. His mouth open and gasping for air. He felt sick. Like he was about to throw up and it was nothing short of a fight to stop himself from doing so and the more he struggled to process everything he’d been told and how he felt about it, the more he felt sick. 

It was all too much to deal with. 

Too many awful facts to process. 

One of them being that Andrea was Dee’s sister. 

That revelation had shaken him to the core. Left him unable to think but now, it seemed almost irrelevant. They were nothing alike. Two completely different people with two completely different personalities. Even appearances, thinking back, he couldn’t see it anymore. She looked nothing like Dee. Even the way she acted, it wasn’t real. It was as fake as she was and because of that, he could only think about one thing. 

How could she do that? 

He couldn’t understand it. 

How someone could steal another person’s child. 

Warp them into that. 

Raise them to be someone like that. Someone who is utterly despicable. Who is cold and heartless and capable of so much cruelty, who could inflict so much pain and destruction onto another human being and who could do it for their own selfish reasons. 

Andrea had almost destroyed his life. She tore it to shreds. She walked in, forced him to relieve his worst nightmare. The worst thing that ever happened to him over and over and over again until he couldn’t bear it. Until he was living that day and everything that happened to him because of it. Until it was too much to cope with and he needed her. Until he couldn’t live without her and then she took off. Ran out of his life and he couldn’t cope so he needed to see her again and when he did, she took advantage of him and it didn’t just cost him his marriage but she nearly cost him his life as well. 

He hated himself because of her.

Now, despite all of that, he was looking at her in a humane way. As a person, instead of the monster she was. He felt sympathy for her. She was stolen from her family and turned into this, the person she is now and he hated it. He was disgusted in himself for even thinking it, let alone feeling that way. But he couldn’t get the idea that this was something that was done to her out of his mind. That she was made into the person she is now but it still made him feel sick to his stomach. 

He wanted nothing more to do with her and at the same time, he wanted to know more. He needed to know more. He needed to know how this happened. What happened to her. What that woman did to her. What she went through.

He wanted to understand her. 

He wanted to understand how Andrea came to be the person she was and then maybe he could finally understand how she could do what she did to him and not care.

Then, he could finally let her go. 

Andrea was a ghost. 

Haunting him but now, he might just be able to finally exercise from his life. 

-*-

Sonya sat at the table, the documents from John scattered around her as she decided to go through them alone. Not wanting Jarrod to deal with this until or if he was ready to. Taking a deep breath, she pressed her palm to her mouth as she looked to the side and saw him, standing there in the rain before she lent forward and started looking through the documents, one by one. 

The first document she picked up was a list of all the patients, family members and staff who were in the hospital on the 31st of July 1979. It was extensive, more than she'd expected and a handwritten note was stapled to the back of the list. it was titled 'THE NURSERY JULY 1979' and contained 5 names and birth dates. 

Athena Mikaelson - Born 31/07/79  
Dione Bliss - Born 31/07/79  
Andrea Somers - Born 31/07/79  
Jemima Little - Born 19/07/79  
Katherine Andersan - Born 28/07/79

The next document she picked up was a copy of Willow's birth certificate. She wouldn't have thought anything of it if it weren't for the question marks scribbled over certain parts of the document. Particularly, calling into question that her mother was Andrea Somers and that she was born in Perth on the 4th of February 2002. 

'Why would he question that?' Sonya thought to herself, shaking her head as she placed the certificate down and picked up another one. It was a police report dated the 14th of May 2012 in Leonora, Western Australia, which read:

'A neighbour of Ms. Somers called police concerned about raised voices and sounds of things being thrown coming from Dylan Pindia's residence. Police visit to house found Ms. Somers showing clear signs of having been physically assaulted. Offender was her partner, Dylan Pindia, who admitted on scene having caused the injuries. Ms. Somers moves between Perth and the goldfields region for work. She went back to Perth following the assault after being removed from the residence for the night. Police encouraged Ms. Somers to press charges against Mr. Pindia, but she refused.' 

She looked through the rest of the written information but the only thing that was relevant was their addresses. Dylan Pindia lived at 1/32 Kendall Road, Leonora WA 6438 and Andrea lived at 12 Treesitter Road, Lockridge WA 6054.

Turning the page, she found a photocopy of a photo of Andrea. One showing her battered and bruised, her left eye completely bloodshot. 

_"That's... I know that photo."_

Sonya whispered under her breath as she leaned forward, looking at the photo more closely before coming to a realisation. It was the same photo Andrea had showed them when she turned up last year. The one she claimed was taken after the accident in 2003. The fact she lied about how she got the bruises wasn't a surprise, she'd been in that situation herself but realising she’d used her own abuse, the violence perpetrated against her to abuse and manipulate Jarrod, it was disgusting. It was too much to deal with and she needed a distraction from this when she picked up Andrea’s passport. 

The passport was issued in May 2009 and depicted Andrea as a brunette. Revealing her birth place, like Willow to be in Perth and with the same question marks scribbled next to it but this time, her birth date, which read the 11th of August 1980 was underlined multiple times. 

‘Why did he underline that?’ Sonya thought to herself, confused and shaking her head. ‘We already know that isn’t her birth date!’ 

She then picked up the document pertaining to the death of Andrea Mallory. It wasn’t something she wanted to read so she skimmed over it. Taking note of the important details. Andrea had died in her sleep, believed to have suffocated (Sounded like SIDS) in the early hours of February 4th 1979 when she was six months old. There was nothing suspicious about her death except that it was the second of Zoe’s children to die at that age and in those circumstances. Most of the information was the same as what they’d been told by John, except for her birth date: 11th of August 1979. 

_“That’s…”_

Sonya whispered under her breath as she leaned forward and picked up Andrea’s passport, realising why her birth date was underlined. 

_“Same name, same date of birth… Oh, my God!”_

Sonya took a deep breath, rubbing her hands against the back of her neck and clenched her teeth, not knowing what to do or how to process this when she looked around and noticed a picture of a young woman under a few of the documents, pushing them aside as she picked it up. 

It was a picture of Zoe Mallory, taken in 1977. She was beautiful. She looked like a combination of Snow White and Morgan Le Fay. She was incredibly pale with almost an ivory complexion with light green eyes and her hair was a dark auburn colour. The picture was stapled to a Psych Assessment Report from Mersey Community Hospital, dated July 8th 1979.

The report showcased that she was born on November 10th 1957, making her age at the time around 21-22, lived in in Spreyton, Tasmania and was being examined by a Dr Benjamin Kimm. His report was extensive but read like it’d been written by someone who just googled the symptoms and formed a conclusion. Though, he did mention Zoe was Schizophrenic and at the time, was in a state of psychosis. Which made sense when listing what she was experiencing at the time of her hospitalisation. 

  * Confusion
  * Hypervigilance 
  * Frequent nightmares
  * Hallucinations and hearing voices
  * Memory loss
  * Depressed
  * Angry
  * Excitable



He also made a strong recommendation that no visitors be permitted as they were could be harmful to her mental and physical state but he didn’t expand on that. She then picked up a single newspaper article. One regarding the kidnapping. 

HOSPITAL ABDUCTION  
1st August 1979  
Brian Morrisan 

‘Police advise the public to keep an eye out for 22 year old local woman Zoe Mallory who is a prime suspect in the kidnapping of a six hour baby girl during a fire in the late hours of July 31st at Mersey Community Hospital.’

_"That's it? There couldn’t have been anything bigger than a child abduction that day!"_

Sonya questioned, confused as she looked through the other documents, checking to see if there were any other newspaper articles when she saw a loose yellow post it note, with John’s writing on it that read: 

_No Fire!_  
_Babies moved away from door!_  
_Wet towels in front of nursery door!_  
_Fire alarm pulled!_  
_Staged???_

Every piece of information she’d looked at, left her more confused about their relevance and what was going on but before she could go back through and re-read the documents, the back door opened, and she looked up, watching Jarrod walk back into the house. He was sad but attempting to smile, his arms crossed in front of him and he was shaking from the cold as he walked towards to Sonya, sitting on the chair next to her as water from his clothes dripped onto the floor. 

_"Is that the…”_ Toadie asked softly, pointing at the papers. _“The documents John left?"_

Sonya nodded, taking a moment to look at him and smile before looking back at the documents, using her hands as a comb as she brushed her hair back and lent forward. _"None of this make sense, Jarrod. I've read it... over and over again and I just... I can't get my head around it."_

Toadie whispered. _"Which part?"_

 _"All of it. This whole thing is just... it's a mess. It makes no sense.”_ Sonya said, frustrated while speaking extremely fast. _“I mean, I'm not saying that... that it didn't happen or that John got something wrong and I haven’t had the chance to read everything yet, it's just... This woman... Zoe, she steals a baby from a hospital in Tasmania, takes the time…”_ Sonya cleared her throat, waving her index finger in the air. “ _not to cover her tracks but…”_ Sonya tapped her finger onto the post it note, leaving it there as she momentarily chuckled and squinted. “ _to protect the children from a nonexistent fire and then takes off. Somehow getting all the way to Perth, creating false documents and then… I don't know. She just completely vanishes off the face of the Earth and 37 years later, that baby, Dee's twin sister turns up at our door and pretends to be Dee?"_

_“Yeah…”_

_"Where did they go?”_ Sonya asked, gesturing in front of her. “ _How did they get there? And... “_ Sonya licked her lips as she shook her head. _“..and don't you think it's a bit too much of a coincidence that she not only names the child she kidnapped Andrea but gives her, her daughter's birth date?"_

_"Really?"_

Sonya nodded. “.. _and it was winter. It must have been freezing and her psych report says she was in a state of psychosis. It was a few weeks before but, if she was still in that state… I don’t know. I don’t think she would have been in a state to drive, if she could drive and everyone was looking for her so…”_

_"Someone helped her."_

_“Yeah.”_ Sonya whispered. _“I mean, there’s nothing to prove that but… it would make sense.”_

Toadie’s eyes blinked as he leaned forward and picked up the picture of Zoe and looked it over carefully. She looked so innocent, so fragile. His bottom lip started to quiver as he cleared his throat. _“I... I need to know more."_

 _"What? Where did this come..."_ Sonya questioned, squinting before Toadie cut her off.

 _"I... I want to go there. I want to... I need to know more about what's going on here.”_ Toadie whispered, trying to hide his voice breaking up as he avoided looking at Sonya. _“I... I need to know and I want to do this on my own. On our own. We know what we're looking for... what we want, what we need to know and John can't help us with that."_

 _"What do you mean? You... you want to go to... to Tasmania? Perth?"_ Sonya asked, concerned as her brows furrowed and Toadie nodded. _"Which one?"_

_"Both."_

Toadie whispered, scrunching up his face and leaning forward as Sonya nodded, her eyes widened and looking to the side, biting her lip as she sat upright, looking at the papers before she turned to look at Jarrod, concerned. 


End file.
